It is often necessary to have spare change in a vehicle in order to pay for tolls, parking meters, or roadside newspapers. However, it is quite difficult to look for and find change in a purse, wallet, or a pants pocket while driving alone and indeed can be quite hazardous when driving at higher speeds or when approaching a crowded tollbooth area. In order to avoid having to look through a purse or in a pocket, some drivers place spare change in an ashtray, a drink holder, or other compartment in the vehicle. While the driver may be able to access the change in these compartments more readily, the driver must still take his or her eyes off the road to find the compartment and then sort through the coins for the exact amount of change needed. Moreover, if ashtrays, drink holders, or other compartments are used as spare change holders, the driver and other passengers in the car do not have the use of these amenities while traveling.
In an effort to eliminate to such problems, various types of coin holders for vehicles have been developed. Such coin holders are generally built into the dashboard, into the console between the driver and passenger seats, or mounted on the dashboard or sun visor of the vehicle. Representative examples of such coin holders are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,855,308, 5,449,105, and 5,112,276. None of these coin holders, however, are capable of sorting coins.
Therefore, it is believed that there is a need in the motor vehicle industry for a combined coin sorting and dispensing apparatus that may be mounted in or integrally formed with the dashboard, console, or an existing interior door or side panel, or placed in an existing pocket of the vehicle. It is further believed that there is demand for a combined coin sorting and dispensing apparatus for a motor vehicle which is compact, easily assembled, and inexpensive to manufacture, but which efficiency and effectively sorts, stores, and dispenses coins.